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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday held virtual consultations with his counterparts from T&uuml;rkiye, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), focusing on regional developments and underscoring the importance of dialogue and diplomacy in easing tensions, the Foreign Office said.&nbsp;The consultations took place while Dar is on an official visit to Beijing, where he is co-chairing the 7th Pakistan-China Foreign Ministers&rsquo; Strategic Dialogue with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to an earlier Foreign Office statement.&nbsp;During his separate conversations with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Dar discussed the evolving regional situation, the statement said.&nbsp;The foreign minister welcomed the Saudi position on Yemen and &ldquo;appreciated the efforts of all sides to resolve&rdquo; regional issues through peaceful means, the Foreign Office added.&nbsp;In a separate interaction with UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Dar exchanged views on the broader regional environment and expressed satisfaction over what the statement described as a &ldquo;positive trajectory&rdquo; and recent improvements in the situation.&nbsp;&ldquo;DPM/FM Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar appreciated that dialogue and diplomacy have resulted in tangible outcomes on the ground,&rdquo; the Foreign Office said, adding that Pakistan continues to support peaceful engagement and cooperative approaches to regional challenges.

Foreign Affairs

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar holds virtual talks with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and UAE, discussing regional developments and praising dialogue and diplomacy for easing tensions

Pakistani FM consults Muslim-majority counterparts on regional stability, diplomacy

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s javelin star Arshad Nadeem was honored with the Global Breakthrough Athlete Award at the World Sports Summit in the United Arab Emirates on Monday. Chairman of the Dubai Sports Council, Sheikh Mansoor, presented the award.&nbsp;Nadeem received praise for his historic performance at the Paris Olympics, where he won the gold medal with a record-breaking throw of 92.97 meters, setting new Olympic and world records.&nbsp;Nadeem wrote on Instagram, &ldquo;Alhamdulillah. Honored to receive the Global Breakthrough Athlete Award at the World Sports Summit in Dubai.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed instagram-embed" style="width: 50%; display: block; max-width: 600px;"><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DS1_y_ijCPZ/embed/?cr=1&v=14&wp=592&rd=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com&rp=%2Farticles%2Fnew#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A613208.099999994%2C%22ls%22%3A1587%2C%22le%22%3A1587%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="510" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background: white; max-width: 540px; width: calc(100% - 2px); border-radius: 3px; border: 1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219); box-shadow: none; display: block; margin: 0px 0px 12px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px;"></iframe></div>The global event featured over 1,500 sports leaders, policymakers, and athletes who will participate in discussions on the future of the industry under the theme &ldquo;Uniting the World Through Sport.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;Pakistan&rsquo;s Federal Minister for Information &amp; Broadcasting, Attaullah Tarar, wrote on social media platform X, &ldquo;Arshad Nadeem is our pride.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2005550408308261022&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=7704bdc4bf0e6763afc04d37faf7e05443d56d2e&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 779px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" data-tweet-id="2005550408308261022"></iframe></div></div>Nadeem has also won medals at other international competitions, such as the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. In November, he won gold in the men&rsquo;s javelin throw at the Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 in Saudi Arabia, recording a throw of 83.05 meters.

Athletics

Pakistan’s javelin star Arshad Nadeem was honored with the ‘Global Breakthrough Athlete’ award in the UAE. He previously won Olympic gold with a record 92.97-meter throw and Islamic Solidarity Games 2025 gold in Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan’s javelin star Arshad Nadeem receives Global Breakthrough Athlete award  

ISLAMABAD: United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is scheduled to arrive in Pakistan on Friday for an official visit focused on bilateral relations and regional security, the Pakistan foreign office announced on Wednesday. The visit comes at the invitation of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.&nbsp; Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed will be accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising ministers and senior officials. Since its formation in December 1971, Pakistan-UAE relations have grown across political, economic, and social spheres, evolving into a &ldquo;trustworthy strategic partnership&rdquo; based on mutual trust, according to the UAE foreign office. The UAE and Pakistan share strong economic ties, with approximately 1.8 million Pakistani expatriates working in the UAE. These expatriates contributed $5.5 billion in remittances in the current fiscal year, significantly supporting Pakistan&rsquo;s macro-economy, according to the ministry. The UAE-Pakistan Assistance Program, launched in January 2011 at a total cost of $450 million, has funded the reconstruction of infrastructure damaged by floods and natural disasters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bajaur, and South Waziristan, creating jobs and improving livelihoods in these regions. The country has also reaffirmed its support to Pakistan in overcoming macroeconomic challenges, exemplified by its $2 billion financial deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan.&nbsp; Over the past two decades, the UAE public and private sectors have invested more than $10 billion in Pakistan, spanning communications, services, tourism, information technology, oil and gas, housing, banking, and real estate, according to the UAE ministry of foreign affairs. State-owned and private UAE companies have played an active role in Pakistan&rsquo;s economic landscape.&nbsp; The Abu Dhabi Group owns Al Falah Bank and invested in UBL Bank; Dubai Islamic Bank has branches in Pakistan; Mashreq Bank Pakistan is a fully digital, Shariah-compliant bank. Additionally, Emirati telecommunications firms acquired shares in Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited for over $2 billion. Currently, around 19 Emirati companies are operating in Pakistan, reflecting the depth of economic engagement between the two countries, according to the UAE foreign office. The Pakistan foreign office said earlier this week that Sheikh Mohamed&rsquo;s visit to Pakistan and the ensuing talks are expected to focus on enhancing cooperation in trade, investment, energy, development, and regional stability.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is set to arrive in Pakistan for talks on bilateral relations, trade, investment, energy, and regional security, highlighting a longstanding strategic partnership and deep economic ties between both countries.

Pakistan-UAE partnership: Key developments and milestones

ISLAMABAD: United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan arrives in Pakistan on Friday for an official visit focusing on bilateral relations and regional security, the Pakistan foreign office said on Wednesday. The visit marks Sheikh Mohamed&rsquo;s first official trip to Pakistan since assuming the UAE presidency in 2022 and his second visit to the country this year.&nbsp; Sheikh Mohamed became Ruler of Abu Dhabi on May 13, 2022, following the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and was elected President of the UAE a day later. Sheikh Mohamed is widely regarded as a central architect of the country&rsquo;s modern political, economic, and security policies. He is the third son of the UAE&rsquo;s founding president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Born in 1961, Sheikh Mohamed received military training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom, graduating in 1979.&nbsp; He has held various roles in the UAE armed forces, including service in the elite Amiri Guard and as a pilot in the UAE Air Force, according to the UAE government&rsquo;s official website. In January 2005, he was appointed Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, a position in which he oversaw the development of the military&rsquo;s strategic planning, training, and defense capabilities. Before becoming president, Sheikh Mohamed held several key leadership roles in Abu Dhabi.&nbsp; He was named Crown Prince in 2004 and chaired the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, overseeing major policy decisions.&nbsp; He also played a leading role in economic diversification initiatives, including the establishment of Mubadala Development Company in 2002, now one of the UAE&rsquo;s main state investment entities. As chairman of the Tawazun Economic Council, he supported investments to strengthen domestic industries and reduce reliance on oil revenues. He has also been a prominent advocate of humanitarian assistance, directing UAE aid through organizations such as the Emirates Red Crescent to countries affected by conflict and natural disasters.&nbsp; During the COVID-19 pandemic, he led efforts to expand medical assistance and vaccine distribution internationally. He continues to prioritize investments in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and regional security to enable further progress and growth in Abu Dhabi. Sheikh Mohamed is married to Her Highness Sheikha Salama bint Hamdan bin Mohamed Al Nahyan; they have four sons and five daughters and are blessed with numerous grandchildren. His visit to Pakistan, followed by discussions, is expected to focus on expanding cooperation in trade, investment, energy, development, and regional stability, the Pakistan foreign office said.

Middle East

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan will arrive in Pakistan for talks on trade, investment, energy, and regional security, highlighting his leadership in Abu Dhabi’s political, economic, and military development

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan: Architect of Abu Dhabi’s security and growth

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with the newly appointed Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates Salem Mohammed Salem Al Bawab Al Zaabi, at the prime minister&rsquo;s office on Tuesday, according to an official statement. Prime Minister Sharif welcomed the ambassador and expressed his appreciation for the brotherly relations between both the countries during the meeting. Sharif also said that he looked forward to the upcoming visit of the President of the UAE. &ldquo;The Prime Minister said that he looked forward to the upcoming visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi to Pakistan,&rdquo; the statement said. The PM showed his satisfaction on the volume of bilateral trade between both the countries. He also highlighted the need for both sides to further collaborate in areas such as energy, minerals, IT, railways, and aviation. Sharif also acknowledged the UAE&#39;s consistent support for Pakistan in times of need, including humanitarian assistance and developmental projects. Al Zaabi thanked the PM for receiving him and conveyed his president&rsquo;s best wishes. He reaffirmed the UAE&#39;s interest to further its partnership with Pakistan across all spheres; he also assured to explore new avenues for cooperation, benefitting both nations.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met UAE Ambassador Salem Al Zaabi, reaffirming strong bilateral ties, welcoming President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed’s visit, praising UAE support, and urging expanded cooperation in trade, energy, IT, railways, and aviation.

Pakistan PM, UAE envoy discuss expanding bilateral ties

ABU DHABI: French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he had given the official go-ahead to replace his country&#39;s flagship, the nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier.&nbsp;That vessel, the only nuclear-powered carrier outside the US Navy, entered service in 2001 following more than a decade of construction.&nbsp;&quot;In line with the last two military programming laws, and after a thorough and comprehensive review, I have decided to equip France with a new aircraft carrier,&quot; Macron said, speaking during a visit to French troops in the United Arab Emirates.&nbsp;The decision to give the final go-ahead was made this week, he added.&nbsp;&quot;In an age of predators, we must be strong in order to be feared,&quot; Macron said.&nbsp;France first launched studies into replacing the Charles de Gaulle in 2018, with preliminary work beginning two years later.&nbsp;The announcement of the official start of construction comes despite a budgetary deadlock gripping the European Union&#39;s second-largest economy.&nbsp;Criticism in France, including from military chief General Fabien Mandon, had focused on whether other more pressing areas should be prioritised amid fears of a European war with Russia.&nbsp;This official launch will make it possible to sign all of the contracts necessary for the project, Macron&#39;s office said.&nbsp;Also nuclear-powered, the new carrier will be far larger than the current flagship.&nbsp;It will displace nearly 80,000 tons and be around 310 metres long, compared with 42,000 tons and 261 metres for the Charles de Gaulle.&nbsp;With a crew of 2,000, it will be able to hold 30 fighter jets.&nbsp;While the future ship will still be dwarfed by the 11 vast supercarriers of the US Navy, which each displace more than 100,000 tons, only China and Britain&#39;s Royal Navy currently operate similarly sized carriers, all of which are conventionally powered.&nbsp;Focus on drug traffickingMacron was speaking during a visit to the UAE to celebrate Christmas with French troops and to discuss bilateral ties with the Gulf state, with Paris hoping for more cooperation in its fight against drug trafficking.&nbsp;Macron met Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Sunday, with the French leader posting on X that they had discussed how to strengthen their strategic partnership, particularly for &quot;stability in the Middle East&quot;.&nbsp;The UAE is a major buyer of French military hardware and Paris is reportedly considering turning to Abu Dhabi to rescue its troubled future fighter jet programme with Germany on the brink of pulling out.&nbsp;The French president traditionally celebrates the end-of-year holidays with troops deployed abroad, of whom there are more than 900 in the UAE.&nbsp;Some of their work focuses on the war against drug trafficking, with France hoping for more Emirati cooperation.&nbsp;Major traffickers are believed to have found refuge in the UAE, in Dubai in particular, and some are thought to have built up substantial real estate portfolios there.&nbsp;The French delegation includes Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin, who last month called on the UAE to extradite some 15 suspected drug traffickers wanted by France.

Europe

France’s President Emmanuel Macron authorises a larger, nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to replace the Charles de Gaulle, signalling defence priorities amid budget pressures during a UAE visit focused on security ties and anti-drug cooperation.

Macron, on UAE visit, announces new French aircraft carrier

ABU DHABI: Deep in the Abu Dhabi desert, a vast AI campus a quarter the size of Paris is starting to emerge &mdash; the oil-rich UAE&#39;s boldest bet yet on technology it hopes will help transform its economy. Towering cranes clank as long, low buildings take shape below, the eventual home of data centers powered by five gigawatts of electricity &mdash; the biggest such facility outside the United States. The campus will provide storage and computing capacity over a 3,200-kilometre (1,990-mile) radius covering up to four billion people, said Johan Nilerud, chief strategy officer of Khazna Data Centers, a subsidiary of Emirati AI giant G42, which is spearheading the project. Since the 1960s, oil has fueled the United Arab Emirates&#39; rise from a desert outpost of nomadic tribes to a Middle East economic and diplomatic powerhouse. Now, the UAE is hoping that AI can help fill the gap when oil demand inevitably wanes. &quot;The idea is obviously to bring in international partners... to be this AI-native nation,&quot; said Nilerud. Phase one of the AI campus &mdash; the G42-built, one-gigawatt Stargate UAE cluster &mdash; will be operated by OpenAI and is backed by other US tech giants such as Oracle, Cisco and Nvidia. And last month, Microsoft announced more than $15.2 billion in investments in the UAE by 2029, after injecting $1.5 billion last year into G42. Core subject&nbsp;The UAE has been betting heavily on AI since 2017, when it named the world&#39;s first AI minister and became the second country after Canada to unveil a national AI strategy. A year later, G42 was founded with backing from the Abu Dhabi-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala. Chaired by the UAE president&#39;s brother, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, it offers a range of AI products and employs more than 23,000 people. The UAE said it has pumped more than $147 billion into AI since 2024, including up to 50 billion euros ($58 billion) in a one-gigawatt AI data center in France. &quot;AI, like oil, is a transversal sector, which can potentially have a leverage effect and an impact on different activities,&quot; said Professor Jean-Francois Gagne of the University of Montreal. In 2019, Abu Dhabi opened Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world&#39;s first AI-dedicated university. Last August, AI became a core subject in the country&#39;s public schools from kindergarten up. MBZUAI and Abu Dhabi&#39;s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) have since launched generative AI models including Falcon, which compared favorably with industry leaders and now has an Arabic version. Keen to cut reliance on imported hardware and expertise, the UAE has made large investments in research, development and homegrown programs. TII opened a research lab with Nvidia to &quot;push the boundaries&quot; of generative AI models and develop robotics systems, said Executive Director Najwa Aaraj. &quot;Sovereignty and self-sustainability and domestic customization of technology to local needs are all very, very important,&quot; Eric Xing, president of MBZUAI, told AFP. &quot;And also difficult to achieve if you solely rely on importing and external... technical transfer.&quot; Chips ahoyIn the race for AI market share, the UAE is in the chasing pack behind the US and China. But the desert country has its advantages, chiefly money and energy. With oil, gas and year-round sun for solar power, it can quickly build electricity stations to feed data centers &mdash; a major obstacle elsewhere. Deep pockets and unquestioned royal rule give it the freedom to plow billions into AI development and infrastructure. And as the region&#39;s business hub, with a population that is nearly 90 percent expatriate, the UAE has the edge on neighbor and AI rival Saudi Arabia in attracting talent. All the while, the UAE has engaged in a balancing act between the US and China as it seeks imports vital for AI, including the specialist chips that make data centers work. Last month, US approved the export of advanced Nvidia chips to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. &quot;They (UAE) clearly don&#39;t want to be dependent on China, but that doesn&#39;t mean they want to depend on the US either,&quot; said Gagne. But despite its progress and years of heavy investment, success in this complex, ever-changing sector is far from guaranteed. &quot;Right now, we don&#39;t know what the right strategy is, or who the good players are,&quot; Gagne said. &quot;Everyone is betting on different players, but some will lose and some will win.&quot;

Model of the construction site for the artificial intelligence (AI) campus the United Arab Emirates is building in the desert. (AFP)

Artificial Intelligence

UAE accelerates its economic transformation with a massive AI campus in Abu Dhabi, aiming to diversify beyond oil and lead regional technology development.

Oil-rich UAE turns to AI to boost economy

ISLAMABAD: FAST Ventures, the Dubai-based marketing holding company, has formally announced the launch of FAST Foundry, a $3 million venture studio aimed at supporting early-stage startups across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).&nbsp; The announcement was made in an official company press release stating that&nbsp;FAST Foundry will back founders building new adtech, retail, creator economy, AI,&nbsp;and marketing products with the potential to scale globally.&nbsp; The company combines the $3 million fund with access to FAST Ventures&rsquo; in-house teams across&nbsp;AI-native marketing agents, retail and commerce-media infrastructure, creator and influencer-commerce tools, and emerging consumer verticals, offering what the company calls a &#39;structured path&#39; from idea to early traction. <div class="fr-embed"><iframe src="https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:share:7397248693520732161?collapsed=1" height="391" width="504" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" title="Embedded post"></iframe></div> &quot;FAST Foundry is the next chapter,&quot; said Waseem Afzal, CEO of FAST Ventures, in the official announcement.&nbsp; &quot;We&rsquo;re backing founders who want to create tools, platforms, and products that redefine how marketing and growth work, built in MENA, for the world.&quot; FAST Ventures says the initiative is aimed at a recurring challenge in the region: early-stage ventures often stall before achieving revenue stability. The firm highlights regional data showing that nearly 90% of MENA startups fail within a few years, and 43% struggle to build repeatable demand, even when the underlying product is strong. What it means for Pakistani&#39;sAlthough the fund is based in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan falls within the broader MENA investment footprint. Many Pakistani startups set up in Dubai or Riyadh for access to capital, and the studio&rsquo;s focus on adtech, AI, creator platforms, and digital commerce aligns with sectors where Pakistani founders are increasingly active. Selected startups will receive investment and workspace at FAST Ventures&rsquo; Dubai Internet City headquarters or its offices in Riyadh, along with engineering and go-to-market assistance through FAST&rsquo;s affiliated units: Platformance, Lion, and Calibrate.

FAST Ventures has launched FAST Foundry, aiming to support early-stage startups. The fund provides capital, workspace, and operational support, including marketing, AI, and creator tools, offering opportunities for Pakistani and MENA region founders.

Dubai startup launches $3m venture fund, opens doors to Pakistani founders

TEHRAN: Iran&#39;s Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Saturday that they had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf as it sailed away from a UAE port, a day after security companies determined they were likely responsible. &quot;Yesterday morning at 7:30, after a judicial authority ordered the seizure of the cargo of an oil tanker with the trade name Talara and the flag of the Marshall Islands, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) rapid reaction units of the naval forces monitored its movements and intercepted and seized it,&quot; said the IRGC, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic&#39;s military. &quot;The tanker was found to be in violation of the law by carrying unauthorized cargo,&quot; the statement continued, adding it &quot;was carrying 30,000 tonnes of petrochemical cargo and was heading to Singapore.&quot; The Iranian news agency Fars said that action was not taken as a measure against any other nation but was a purely local matter. The seized cargo, the report said, was made up of Iranian-produced petrochemicals being illegally exported and &quot;the main culprit was an Iranian individual or business.&quot; The vessel had departed from Ajman in the United Arab Emirates and was heading south through the Strait of Hormuz when it was approached by three small boats, after which it made a &quot;sudden course deviation,&quot; maritime security company Ambrey said. The US Navy had earlier said it was &quot;actively monitoring the situation.&quot; &quot;Commercial vessels are entitled to largely unimpeded rights of navigation and commerce on the high seas,&quot; said the US 5th Fleet, which patrols the region. The Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global oil and liquefied natural gas, has previously been the scene of similar incidents. Last year, the Revolutionary Guards seized a container ship, saying it had links to Israel, following a deadly attack on Iran&#39;s consulate in Syria blamed on Israel.

File Photo - Iraq’s state ports company and naval forces carry out a joint operation in Iraqi territorial waters and the Khor Abdallah channel to ensure navigational safety and crack down on oil smugglers on August 7, 2025. 

Asia

Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed on Saturday that they had seized an oil tanker in the Gulf as it sailed away from a UAE port, a day after security companies determined they were likely responsible.

Iran Guards confirm they seized oil tanker in Gulf

ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates is not planning to join the international stabilization force for Gaza because it lacks a clear framework, a senior official said on Monday. &quot;The UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force, and under such circumstances will probably not participate in such a force,&quot; Emirati presidential advisor Anwar Gargash told the Abu Dhabi Strategic Debate forum. The US-coordinated international force has been seen as likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, as well as the UAE. Last week, US President Donald Trump said he expected the force to be in Gaza &quot;very soon&quot;, as a fragile ceasefire holds following two years of war. The oil-rich UAE is one of the few Arab nations with official ties to Israel after signing the Abraham Accords during Trump&#39;s first term in 2020.

Emirati presidential advisor Anwar Gargash says the UAE does not yet see a clear framework for the stability force, and under such circumstances will probably not participate in such a force.

Articles tagged with "UAE"